This invention relates in general to livestock footbaths, and in particular to a method of treating livestock footbath solutions to improve the solutions.
Bacterial diseases of the hoof, such as hairy hoof warts and hoof rot, are common in livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats and horses. These diseases can cause lameness which leads to a decline in animal health and performance as measured by a decrease in body weight and fertility. Animals that are seriously afflicted may need to be culled. Lameness in dairy cattle often causes a significant decrease in milk production. Thus, the bacterial diseases create a financial burden on farmers as well as harming the livestock.
One method to address the disease problem is by the use of a livestock footbath. The footbath holds a solution containing a material to prevent and/or treat the disease, such as an antibiotic or other material such as copper sulfate and/or zinc sulfate. The animal is led to walk through the footbath to immerse the hooves in the treatment solution. For example, dairy cattle are usually led through a footbath on their way to or from the milking parlor.
There are still problems associated with the use of livestock footbaths. Some materials used in footbath solutions are not very effective against the diseases or cause irritation to the hooves of the animals. Another problem is that bacteria-containing organic materials on the hooves of the animals are washed off in the footbath solution. The organic materials build up over time and overcome the ability of the material in the solution to prevent and/or treat the disease. An additional problem is that disposal of the footbath water may raise environmental concerns, as several states are mandating the discontinued use of products containing heavy metals such as copper. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide improved livestock footbath solutions.